The lines between truth, exaggeration, and outright nonsense get blurry. But at its most ridiculous, this interview is about as plausible as a throwaway hip-hop beat tossed together on FruityLoops snowballing into 2010's unofficial party-time theme song. The synthy sparkle and hum of breakout single "Living in America" is mostly an afterthought as Dom trudges — by his own admission, way too slowly — to the next horizon. He says the new material he's working on channels George Harrison, but I'm envisioning something closer to the florescent grandiosity of Freddie Mercury.

"I just started smoking a lot of weed and playing a lot of guitar," Dom explains. "So I've gotten a lot better at guitar. Instead of writing on keyboard or rhythm guitar and then working with the leads, I'm just going into outer space, you feel me? Making galaxy-rock anthems, larger-than-life, stadium shit. It's a lot more masculine than my other stuff, but not so much that it's 'Bodies hit the floor' like Drowning Pool, if you feel me."

Dom | Family of Love After writing and recording most of his debut record in Worcester bedrooms with DIY sweat,beat-up paisley guitars, old Casios, and computer programs, this time he's upgraded to a proper studio session with producer Nicolas Vernhes (Animal Collective, Björk), experimenting with a "dial tone solo" and Fun Machine keyboard.

Worcester rock city When I first saw the gooey-inked hand-screened sleeve of the Golden Girls’ recent Ultimate Freedom EP, not only did I get that stirring, satisfying feeling that it had come straight from unsound minds confined to some DIY basement workshop, I also sort of got the creeps. But I think that’s only because they’re from Worcester.

Arctic Monkeys escape the pitfalls of buzz Three for three with critically acclaimed #1 albums in their native UK. Top spots in countries around the world with each release. Early hype for their forthcoming Suck It and See (Domino). That's a pretty good track record.

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS | WELCOME OBLIVION | March 13, 2013 Whereas the monsters and ghosts of NIN songs can scream in your face and rip you to bits with their fangs, Welcome Oblivion tracks like techno-folk haunter "Ice Age" and the doom-pop jaunt "How Long?" make uncredited cameo appearances in your nightmares until you go insane and eat your own hands.

JOHNNY MARR | THE MESSENGER | February 25, 2013 Going solo is rarely a good decision. For every exception to the rule of who flourishes after unburdening themselves of the half-talents that have been holding them back — Justin Timberlake, for one — there are dozens of embarrassing Dee Dee Ramone rap albums that exist because Joey and Johnny Ramone weren't around to kibosh a terrible idea.

WHAT'S F'N NEXT? BUKE AND GASE | January 29, 2013 Almost every person I've told about Buke and Gase assumes that they'll hate this band, which isn't their fault.

BLEEDING RAINBOW | YEAH RIGHT | January 23, 2013 The only defect of the sort-of-but-not-really debut from Bleeding Rainbow (no longer called Reading Rainbow, possibly due to litigious ire festering under LeVar Burton's genial television persona) is that the Philly foursome merely hop off the launching point forged by Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, and a handful of others from the oft-exalted grunge era.